Chained Hearts
by Hana Rui
Summary: LeoPika oneshot fics. FIC 04. Special Delivery. The heartbeat doesn’t lie, Leoriokun. Senritsu visits Leorio with a confession held in a box of coins.
1. Beneath the Falcon's Wings

**Fandom:** Hunter x Hunter

**Summary:** Nature's giant falcon bears witness to the sealing of a lifelong

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**Title: **Beneath The Falcon's Wings

**Author: **Hana Rui

**Genre: **shounen-ai, angst, sap

**Pairing: **Leorio x Kurapika [LeoPika]

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The wind was flapping its wings wildly like a giant falcon, releasing a biting gush of cold late-night breeze that deftly seeped through his windbreaker, straight into the very core of his soul. He didn't seem aware of it, though. And didn't seem to care either that his current supply of blood was gradually turning to ice, making him as wan as a newly washed sheet, and trembling to his guts like an electrocuted klutz. The moon was sending faint beams of light down his face, as though attempting to wake him out of his poignant trance, back to the real world.

Again, he didn't seem aware at all.

The rustling of maple leaves above his head mocked his desolation. He closed his eyes and sighed loudly, willing his ears to ignore the noise, and his heart to numb up to the bitterness… to the scathing loneliness… But there's only so much that a hard-bitten guy of twenty could take. Especially if it concerned the most important person in his life.

Leorio continued his meandering stroll down the park, pushing his hands deep into the pockets of his pants. How many times had he run and re-run the scene in his head? Every minute of every hour of every day, he would indulge in this reminiscence… pausing only for a while to let loose the concomitant tears struggling their way out of his eyes which then would put him to a peaceful sleep… Only to be waken out of it again by the very same scene appearing in his dream…

His brain cells were getting short of understanding and realizing the glaring truth. Even after days, he still hadn't gotten used to the fact that his beloved blond was gone…

"W-What? K-Kurapika, please don't make this too hard for me!" he could vividly remember himself saying, pleadingly, to the rigid back of his beloved.

"You're the one who's making this too hard for the both of us!" the usually calm boy snapped to his face, his uncovered eyes turning a fiery shade of crimson.

Leorio backed away at the unnerving sight, fearing what the guy could do in his currently foul mood. "Please…"

Kurapika turned his back on him again. "It's over," he sobbed. "You are leaving, without any assurance of whether or not you're coming back—"

"I promise to be back as soon as I can!" Soreness and desperation were concurrently present in the older guy's voice. He did not expect it would be utterly straining to get his beloved's consent.

"It's your dream you're after Leorio," Kurapika's voice was low and resigned. Acrid and small. "What do I have against it? Me, being your mere blond fling…"

"KURAPIKA!" All the blood shot like a giant geyser to Leorio's head. He could not believe his koibito thought of himself that way. He grabbed the younger guy by the shoulder and hauled him around to face him. "Would you listen to yourself? Do you even know what you're saying?" Had he not shown him enough love and passion? Had he not given enough of himself to him?

"How important am I to you, Leorio?" Kurapika asked defiantly, unfazed by the fury in his lover's countenance and the tormenting tightness of his grip on him.

"How many times do we have to go over this?" Leorio asked exasperatedly, tightening his hold on the supple flesh with the intention of threatening the unyielding guy. But as he stared straight into his beloved's fiery orbs, the mild and gentle side of him began to dissolve his wrath and he relented in an instant, letting go of the slender shoulders to envelop the other guy in a warm, loving embrace. He had always been the weakest side of their relationship. An all too clear proof that aging didn't necessarily make a stronger man… Even the toughest of all fighters could turn to goo when struck by true love.

"How important am I to you?" Kurapika whispered to his chest, echoing the bitterness of his repeated statement.

"You are my life," he whispered back, merely forcing the words pass the terrible sobs harboring his throat.

"Then… don't go…" Kurapika gripped his lover's shirt and wept arrantly on his chest. "Don't go, Leo-chan!"

Leorio sat on the park bench that seemed to suddenly materialize in front of him as he roused back to the present. He rested his elbows on his knees and caught his cold, pale face in his equally cold, pale hands. In the serene quietness of the night, he could hear the faint tick-tocking of his watch as it ticked off the remaining seconds of the night.

How long had he been walking? He could not tell. Who cared about time anyway? So what if in a few minutes he would be a year older? So what if in a few hours, he would be a thousand miles away from this land? So what if during that time, he would not see his beloved waving goodbye to him at the airport, his smile and the sparkle in his lovely eyes hoping for and anticipating the day they would finally meet again? So what if he didn't have his beloved beside him now? So what—

HELL! Who was he kidding? Of course it mattered! It mattered a lot! Mattered like nothing else had ever mattered to him before!

Leorio pushed his hands through his hair and let out a huge sigh. It wasn't like he had any other choice! His dream meant everything to him too! And now that he's been given a chance to further enhance his knowledge in his chosen field, the person that he had expected to support him and be happy for him was the person who strongly opposed his decision.

Why couldn't his Kura-chan understand the fact that he's doing this for the two of them? For their future? Why was he being so unfair about this? …So unfair to him?

Leorio squeezed his eyes shut and bit his lip, pushing back the tears and the accompanying sobs that were both strongly demanding release. He pulled himself up to his feet and resumed his aimless, lifeless roving. But he hadn't taken more than five steps yet, when a voice from behind called out to him. A voice so familiar it almost took his breath away… and his life along with it. Slowly, almost cautiously, he turned around…

"Le-o-rio…" the new entity drawled in a rather playful tone.

Leorio squinted and peered harder at the guy standing a few steps away from him, not half-believing the actuality of the whole situation. And as if on cue, the silvery lights of the moon sent beams down the shorter guy's physique, as though to help the dumfounded, taller one accept the reality of it all.

_Kurapika!_

The younger guy, face as straight as a line, slowly raised his right arm, stretching it to its full length in front of him. The chains attached to each of his fingers chimed, as though demanding for the other guy's full attention. Then, before Leorio could even fully register what was happening, Kurapika's fingers snapped close, leaving his pinky out pointing directly at him. Or, more specifically, at… _Wait a minute! _

Leorio's whole body tensed up as he stared at the chain snaking at warp speed toward him. "Kurapi-" He gasped as he felt the sharp spear at the end of the chain pierce his chest. The chain then seemed to coil itself around his heart. The pain was only momentary, but the anxiety it had induced refused to fade away. He stared in shock at the chain which was now binding his heart to the younger guy's pinky. He then forced his gaze to the blond-haired creature in front of him, wondering if it was really Kurapika or some other demented nen-user posing as Kurapika!

Then again, it would never be possible for anyone to duplicate those pernicious chains in perfect shape and detail, would it?

"Two conditions, Leorio," Kurapika said. "Two conditions and I'll let you go."

Leorio seemed to have grown roots on the ground he was standing on. Though every cell in his body was so aching to run to his beloved and torment him with the overwhelming love and desire he had for him, his legs just refused to move. Partly for fear of inciting the blond-head's irksome nature and partly out of respect for what the younger guy had planned to do.

Yes, he had always had this much reverence for his beloved's mind, trusting him to do all the right things in all the right situations.

"Are you up to it?" Kurapika asked, his voice firm and full of bearing.

Leorio sighed and obligingly nodded. It wasn't like he had any other choice, anyway, what with Kurapika now _literally _taking hold of his heart!

"First, promise you're going to be back as soon as you finish whatever it is you're going there for to finish-"

"My doctorate…" Leorio helpfully supplied, an amused smile uncontrollably forming on his lips.

"Yeah, whatever," Kurapika sounded a bit impatient, his face shredding out the straight look in exchange for a faint frown. "You are not-"

"I promise," Leorio said, chipping in to his voice all of the sincerity welling up in his heart.

"I'm not done with the whole condition yet!" Kurapika reproached brusquely.

"It doesn't matter… I promise, just the same… On with the second one."

Kurapika sighed, the frown on his face melting into an expression that Leorio couldn't quite place at the moment. "And secondly…" Kurapika's lips appeared to be trembling and there actually was a faint tinge of red creeping up his cheeks.

"Yes?" the older guy prodded. _God, he's blushing like… a school…–girl. Kawaii…_

"…" Kurapika looked straight into the eyes of his lover, his green orbs immediately turning red-not with rage as how it had always done so in the past, but with so much passion and want. "…promise me that I'll be… the only being you'll love… for the rest of your life."

Leorio felt his heart skip at the mere utterance of the second condition. It sounded like a threat to him. And the unmistakable gleam of affection, merged with possession that was harboring his beloved's bloodshot eyes, made him gulp and almost faint from confusion and wariness.

"What do you say?" it was the younger guy's turn to prod him.

He honestly didn't know what to say. It wasn't just a threat! It was a _lifetime threat_, for heaven's sake! What was this kid thinking?

"That is way over the edge," he found himself saying, much to his surprise.

"Hn?"

"You can't possibly be the only being I'll love for the rest of my life!" Leorio felt the rush of wrath at the injustice of it all surge through his nerves. The presence of the guy's nen-chain around his heart seemed to have been pushed into a pit of oblivion. Why did he always have to be so unfair?

Kurapika pressed his lips in a tight line, as the frown crept back to his face, this time fierce and intense. "I see…"

Leorio opened his mouth to speak. But his rational sense held him back. Okay, so like a walking, breathing, talking, _normal_ human being he had the right to air his thoughts on things he did and didn't feel strongly for. But what good would it do for him if after just a second of uttering his thoughts out loud, he dies in the hand of his beloved? Or rather, _by_ the impulsive hand of his beloved?

"Kurapika, where are your senses?" Leorio almost kicked his own ass at his own impulsive outburst.

Kurapika simply cast his frown at him.

Leorio felt the onset of a terrible shiver in his veins. "I… mean…" he stammered. "I mean that condition won't allow me to have any acquaintance at all! Kurapika! I'm not going there to be a hermit!"

"So you're saying 'no'?" Kurapika's voice, was low and resigned. Acrid and small.

"Kurapika, it's not like that." Leorio desperately groped for the right words to explain his point.

"And so 'no' it is. You don't have to explain…"

"Kurapika…"

"Although, I might be able to do something about that…"

"Kurapika!" The shiver that was threatening to overwhelm him, took him completely as he watched Kurapika, fierce frown still in place, determinedly striding toward him, his chain decreasing in length as he took each measured step. Leorio looked left, then right, conspicuously contemplating what direction offered a more efficient way of escape.

"Don't you even think about it," Kurapika's voice was horribly terrorizing. His eyes had that look which suggested both mockery and defiance. "I have my chains in your heart, if I may remind you…"

Leorio's reaction made that old, obvious fact seem like a fresh, new one as his face paled and he almost choked at the stalled breath clogging his throat. He had no chance of escape. His luck was slowly failing him-well, not that it had ever been on his side, anyway.

He hardly could make out the expression on the other guy's face, nor the mere outline of his slender body as haze slowly clouded his sight. He gasped almost desperately for air as the inevitable truth began to dawn on him- his troubled beloved would rather have him dead than…

His train of thoughts was cut short by the smooth, slender fingers making a rough pull on his shirt. And before he could even begin recovering from the shock, he felt the soft, supple lips of the younger guy on his own.

He closed his eyes and instantly drowned in bliss. First, his lips stiffened, then eventually succumbed to the probing kiss. His arms snaked around the shorter guy's back and pulled him closer, welding the warm, desirable body against his own.

Feeling the need for air strike them almost at the same time, they drew apart simultaneously and stared into each other's eyes, piercing each other's soul with the residue of the unsatisfied desire welling up in their hearts.

"You love me, right?" Kurapika asked, pleading and demanding at the same time as his eyes gradually returned to the normal shade of green.

"Yes," Leorio merely breathed the word, his voice blending with the icy midnight breeze that blew pass them. Somehow, his body didn't chill the way it had done so a while ago. The passionate rapture in his heart filled his veins with enough warmth to get by even the worst snowstorm in winter. "But-" he stopped short when a smooth, lithe forefinger gently rested on his lips.

"Let me just rephrase my condition…" Kurapika's voice was playful, almost teasing. He gently pulled away from his lover's arms, his heart delighting at the frown of confusion that instantly took possession of the older guy's handsome features. "Promise me that I'll be the only being you'll love _this way_… for the rest of your life."

It only took a single second for Leorio's frown to soften into a look of affection and his lips to utter the words that sealed his lifetime pledge. "I promise."

The string of chain attached from his pinky to his lover's heart vanished as Kurapika finally allowed his lips to curve into a smile. "I've been really selfish, ne?" His smile didn't succeed in drawing back the tears that seemed to have formed two raging rivers behind his eyes. "I am so sorry, Leo-chan."

Leorio pressed a finger to his beloved's trembling lips, "Sssh…" Then his hand moved to the silken nape and pulled the sobbing guy against himself once again. "I'm just so happy to have you back that I've forgotten all your past immaturity the moment I set my eyes on you again."

Kurapika turned his tear-streaked face up to him and smirked, "Is that so, _jiji-san_?"

"W-What did you call me?" Leorio's face instantly blushed, with both fury and embarrassment at being called an old man.

Kurapika made that rough pull on his lover's shirt again and put his lips to work before the _jiji-san_could even think of a wisecrack to get back at him. And as before, his lover wasn't able to resist his charms and was in a second responding to the kiss. After a while, he drew back and rested his head on the panting guy's heaving chest. "Happy birthday, Leo-chan," he murmured.

Leorio tightened his arms around his beloved and planted a kiss on his blond head. "Wait for me… okay?"

Kurapika merely sighed and bore his head closer to his lover's chest. "_Itte_ _rasshai_…" he whispered as the mighty nocturnal falcon flapped its wings once again…

**-end-**

_Thanks for reading! :)_


	2. Flight of the Doves

**Fandom:** Hunter x Hunter

**Summary:** How agonizing is it to see the one you love break a supposedly lifelong promise? Sequel to Beneath the Falcon's Wings

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**Title: **Flight of the Doves

**Author: **Hana Rui

**Genre: **shounen-ai, angst, sap

**Pairing: **Leorio x Kurapika [LeoPika]

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The park was rather empty, save for a flock of white and gray doves hopping about the ground, pecking on bits of bird pellets tirelessly thrown on them by a park meddler. The jovial, heavily tanned _jiji_ reached into the small, steel pail nestled steadfastly between a fleshy arm and a bare, bulgy chest. And, smiling widely in juvenile delight, he stirred the immobile bits to a rumbling din before finally grabbing a handful and tossing it to the eagerly anticipative flock.

It would've been an amusingly refreshing sight, but the staccato thumps of feeds on cement rang piercingly like a taunting elegy through his head... Crashing his crumbling heart to complete ruin... Condemning his already defunct spirit to a merciless second death...

He just saw him with a girl. No, dammit! It was a woman, actually. He saw them walk out of a posh restaurant a few hours back-arms locked together, vocal chords grating over some funny memory they had in that filthy lair, and the rest of their senses utterly oblivious to a pair of fiery eyes staring them down to dark, bloody hell.

It was the most detrimental sight. The very situation that Kurapika had least expected to be faced with. Especially after he had gone out of his way just to come here and finally be united with his lover.

It had only been a month since Leorio went away. Yet, he couldn't keep himself from worrying... from thinking about him. Whether or not he could actually abstain himself from the worldly temptations plaguing this highly civilized city... If he would really be faithful enough to keep his promise... Or if he loved him enough to shun away from other mutual affairs—

The afternoon breeze casually cruised by and rustled the lively cicada leaves under which the blond kid sat, trying though in vain to mend not only a broken heart, but a shattered disposition as well. His lithe feminish hands flew to his face to muffle the bitter sobs convulsively rising from his throat as his slender body-clad in a casual attire meant to both please and disguise—trembled terribly from the volts of anger and despair currently cruising through his nerves.

The seething coldness that lingered on his skin seeped through his flesh, subsequently bringing to his mind a vivid picture of that moment he and Leorio shared their first and second torrid kisses under the waning moon-beneath nature's mighty falcon wings. He felt so warm and so loved then. So assured and confident that his lover would keep his word. And the older guy seemed so eager and honest then, too. That fool!

Kurapika wheezed and looked up at the sky, his head making hard contact with the tree trunk on which he leaned. The white fluffy clouds languidly sailed by the afternoon firmament, creating a blithe scene that was a mocking contrast to the desolation swirling by his emotions. Or rather, the desolation that was the _only _emotion he knew at the very moment.

He could not believe he had been so gullible. So easy to fool into believing in an illusion of fidelity. A chimera of unfaltering affection. The general foolishness of an undying love...

Then again, didn't he, himself, build those images in his own head? And wasn't he the very person—being his unduly skeptical self—who doubted and contradicted them in the first place?

The dejected blond kid sighed and buried his tear-streaked face to his knees. He could still remember the sheer fear that marred his lover's stunning features when he released the Chain of Judgment in his way and the momentary pain that registered in his eyes when the spear buried itself into his chest. He had his chance to own Leorio then. Own him forever by tying him up to a lifetime verdict of love-but he had been too afraid to hurt him. Too doubtful of his own resolution and too fearful for his impulsive lover's safety.

Who knew how life could change for him once he set foot on this land? Though it would hurt him so to see that guy fall in love with a girl, he would never be able to get himself to kill him. Ever. Maybe the blasted girl, he might consider, but Leorio...

"Are you all right, kid?" the deep, amiable voice suddenly rang through Kurapika's ears, hauling his mind rather unceremoniously off the memories of that momentous night. He jerked his head to his left just in time to see the plump, swarthy man-pail still cuddled in his arms—casually slump down beside him. "It's a wonderful afternoon, isn't it?"

"Go away," Kurapika hissed in his most threatening voice, once again burying his face to his knees. Though his eyes were rather safely shrouded in black contact lenses, he would never risk for this meddler—being uncomfortably close—to catch a faint glimpse of the reddish glow of fury irrepressibly radiating from behind his façade.

Red... Reddish glow. He would never be able to make full use of the Judgment Chain unless his eyes were red. The moment he willed the chain to snake toward his lover's chest, his eyes had glowed in its usual green color. Yes, he had meant to fool Leorio into believing that he was being put under an irreversible curse. The chain he had pierced his chest with was made up. It didn't even exist. What happened on that night was the mere product of his intention, turned into a living, breathing force.

He had wanted to make Leorio believe the Judgment Chain was really _in_ him. And by his powerful nen, Kurapika had done just that. He had willed Leorio to believe everything was for real. From the older guy's rational understanding to his emotional sensibility... He had handled his lover pretty well. Now, he was being plagued by remorse over his own stupid fabrication...

Then again, where did that creep find the guts to go against the condition? Wasn't he afraid of the all too obvious consequence? Or had he somehow found out it was all a lie? Kurapika must admit he had been careless to let his eyes keep their natural color at the outset of that momentous event. He could've turned his eyes red at will, but he didn't. God, why didn't he? Perhaps Leorio, even in that distance saw this and was able to piece the facts together. Perhaps his lover knew all along and just decided to play with him and make him believe he was succeeding in his own little game… Perhaps his Leo-chan was doing this to avenge the disgrace his proud ego had just been subjected to. Perhaps-

"The doves are worrying about you, see?" the unwanted vermin dared to speak again, not moving an inch to heed the blond kid's determined warning.

Kurapika curiously poked his head up a little to take a look and sure enough, there were the three-dozen white and gray doves, flocking right in front of him and staring at him silently with a glint of unspoken concern in their little black eyes. "They're not used to seeing a lonely girl. Especially when she's as pretty as you are." The remark was given in a rather casual manner. In fact, there was not a single tinge of perverted passion in it. Just plain cluelessness and ignorance...

Nevertheless, the insulted blond _guy_ clenched his fists tight as he felt his eyes burn with the sharpest shade of crimson a Kuruta had ever been able to generate. "Damn," he hissed spitefully as he felt the heat of his anger slowly flowing into the veins of his hands.

But before he could move and swing his raging fist toward the fluffy-brained man's sorry face, the most eviscerating sight caught his peripheral vision and instantly crushed him-for the second time that afternoon-to the very core of his soul.

There was Leorio, strolling leisurely through the park with that cursed bitch clinging like a kid onto his arm. And as though that wasn't enough torment already, the two shameless creeps were even walking right to where he was!

Kurapika's sight blurred once again as tears of despair and rage sprung up to his eyes. The more he looked at them enjoy each other's company as they shambled and chortled pass a line of rustling trees, the more he was torn between the urge of confronting them right then and there, and the need to run off some place where he could hide and deal with his desolation on his own.

Deeming it best to just go in peace, least he aggravated the torture he was already having, he jumped up to his feet and turned to walk away. Away from his lover for good. Time could better assuage his misery. He should just content himself with the thought that at least one of them was happy...

He had only taken about three steps when the moronic meddler, somehow sensing the need to make him stay, acted upon his equally moronic impulse and doused the remaining bird pellets in his pail right at him.

Everything happened so fast from that moment on that Kurapika himself almost lost track. He had only a moment to turn around and snarl at the grinning man before the doves began charging right pass him. Their chaotic twits and the frantic fluttering of their wings filled Kurapika's head with so much annoyance and irritation that he almost gave into the urge of throwing every single one of his chains at them and sending them all off to Kingdom come. His nen-chain had actually materialized in his right hand instinctively as he raised his arms over his face and stepped back in an attempt to keep his balance...

"_Bakerou_!" came an all too familiar cry of anger. Kurapika peered through his arms and saw a growling Leorio charge toward the mischievous idiot who all but grinned at him before running off to safety. The self-appointed knight of every distressed damsel was more than willing to dash after the coltish asshole had he not locked eyes with the one he had just served. He froze in his tracks and stared-his eyes widening at each passing second. Kurapika's breath caught in his throat as startled realization gradually dawned on his lover's dark orbs, "K-K-Kurapika?"

The blond kid slowly put his arms down and darted his eyes to the dull asphalt. For a few uncomfortable moments the sound of beaks pecking on the ground echoed through the empty silence of the park. Resounding deafeningly still in the hollow corners of his throbbing heart...

"Leorio-kun?" Needless to say, the nearness of the dulcet voice and the familiarity it had stated were too much for Kurapika's remaining temperance to take. The woman was panting and huffing and seemed as though she was all tired out by the short distance she had to run to catch up to her damn impulsive lover. He could not believe Leorio had actually replaced him with an old and pitiful asthmatic!

He dared not look at how close that bitch had coiled herself once again to his _ex-lover_'s body. He barely opened his trembling lips and whispered a silent, "_Ja_," before turning around to resume his passive retreat.

"Kurapika!" Leorio called out, but the younger guy was by now too enraged and embittered to heed. He just kept walking, absentmindedly disturbing the innocent doves feasting on their humble pellets on his way. The agitated birds flew off immediately, leaving behind a whirlwind that transiently halted the blond guy's steps, consequently enabling the dark-haired one to catch up to him.

Leorio made a grab on his arm and hauled him around rather roughly. Kurapika just as roughly pulled his arm from off his lover's firm grip and turned once again on his heels. "Kurapika!" the harshness in Leorio's voice cut through his sensitivity and summoned at last the tears he had been holding back. Though he wanted so much to run away and leave his lover for good, his feet were all but glued to the ground, refusing to take even a single mincing step. It took all of his remaining strength to keep the sobs back from grating his throat and his whole body trembled at the effort.

"What's wrong?" came the whispered expression of concern. Kurapika felt the older guy's hands gently rest on his shoulders and immediately fell off the pit of his emotions. The tears cascading down his face were finally consorted by the concomitant sobs that sounded pathetic even to the blond kid himself. He tried his very best to stifle them but ended up producing an even more pathetic set of sounds.

He raised an arm to his face and wiped his tears away rather roughly. He wanted so much to shake Leorio's hands from off his shoulders, but he couldn't seem to find enough strength... and guts to do so. He closed his eyes tightly and wished this were all just a dream. A kind of nightmare that broken-hearted souls like him would easily wake out of soon. He wished he could open his eyes and realize he never really saw Leorio with that wimpy woman. That he could still delight at the mere feel of his touch... Appreciate these kinds of spoken concern given in pure genuineness and affection... And still believe in his own little illusion of owning Leo-chan forever...

He wished he could just turn around and bury his face to his lover's chest. Reclaim his right on the warmth and comfort of the older guy's stalwart arms wrapped around him in loving possessiveness... The bliss of having those delicious, supple lips covering his own in a contact that would send a reviving tinge to his dying heart-

"So, this is Kurapika..." the now too familiar voice re-ignited the still un-pacified anger in every corner of his body. The raging Kuruta felt the heat of wrath in his eyes as he clenched his fists tightly once again, his chains chiming faintly, yet ominously. It took all of his will power to keep his calm and delay the urge of mutilating the woman into tiny bird pellets so she could at least be useful to the society even after her dea-

"_Hai hai_!" Kurapika's train of violent, vengeful thoughts was cut short by the abundance of pride in his lover's voice when he spoke. He felt the warm, virile hands deftly haul him around again. Still a bit too stunned to oppose the sudden act, Kurapika consequently found himself nestled steadfastly in his lover's arm, drowning in the warmth he had just been longing for a while ago.

Perhaps it was all just a dream after all…

Or so, if only a certain entity would just cease existing in what was supposed to be his waking state. Kurapika watched silently as the woman's handsome features was suddenly marred by startled wonder… Yes, this woman still looked very real to him. Her wide dark eyes… Her thin red lips forming a chasm of dumfounded shock… Her face gradually turning red from-

"Leorio-kun! How could you!" she squealed, not in anger or disappointment or despair, but… Kurapika's eyes turned into mere slits as a wide, delighted smile began to stretch the woman's lips. Why the hell was this bitch smiling? And why the hell couldn't he move an inch and get himself out of his _ex-lover_'s arms, as though it was as easy as counting a flock of sheep to forgive him?

"W-What?" a perplexed Leorio asked, instinctively tightening his grip around his beloved.

"I thought you said- Leorio-kun! She's-She's beautiful!" the demented woman exclaimed, suddenly cupping the dumfounded, annoyed and once again insulted guy's face in her hands. "Look at her! My god, Leorio-kun! How could you have fooled me!"

Kurapika just stared straight into the irksome woman's sparkling eyes, telling her silently, yet determinedly to keep her filthy hands off his precious face or else…

The blond kid's senses were all the more agitated when Leorio's loud, roarish laughter suddenly rang in his ears. _Damn these people!_ was all he could think of spitefully, as he was yet to gain enough grip of the situation to be able to act accordingly.

"Yes, yes, HE IS BEAUTIFUL!" the spike-haired guy chortled. "HE is a HE, madam. A HE!"

The woman frowned at Leorio and snarled, "Now, I've had it enough with your foolish, lame jokes kid! I know a girl when I see one!" Kurapika stiffened when the woman's frisky hands began gliding down to his chest. "You don't think I'm that stupid enough do-what the hell!" The astounded woman looked at the still chuckling Leorio before gazing straight into the blond kid's blazing black orbs. Her hands instantly fell to her sides and for the next few moments, she and Kurapika were finally given the chance to scrutinize each other closely and try to discern what had made the other special to the fine, gorgeous lad in concern. Leorio's stifled laughter merely served as background to their noble feat…

Kurapika first had to calm himself from the disgrace he felt after being touched like that. What did this woman think of him? A piece of meat being sold in some stinking wet market? And damn! Why did it seem like this whole ghastly city saw him as a pretty damsel? A beautiful girl? What was wrong with these people?

He may be gay for being in-love with Leorio, but he was still a guy, for crying out loud! How much more of this insult should come his way before he could finally bury his furious fists into these stupid creatures' faces? Every time he was about ready to do somebody in, some disturbing situations would always sprout out of nowhere and deny him the glorious chance of avenging his offended ego!

Nevertheless, after a few more seconds, the blond kid was finally able to clear his sight and began observing the woman just as closely as she was doing to him. Her long flowing hair was of the same darkness as Leorio's. Her eyes were as dark and expressive and cheeky like those of Leorio's too. With her standing this close to him now, Kurapika was slowly realizing she was actually older than how he had first discerned her to be. He could even spot occasional wrinkles on her face that were just too deep for the make-up to conceal.

Who was this woman? He narrowed his eyes more and indulged in his quiet thoughts as he kept his scrutinizing eyes on her face. She may be gorgeous and all that, but knowing Leorio-after all the years they've spent together-Kurapika knew that, flirty as he may be, the other guy would never ever hook up with an older woman. Especially not with someone as old as this. Leorio had lots of respect for women, and it would take a huge amount of desperation to have him resort to playing with an old woman's feelings.

So, who was this woman? The question remained in his mind even as the woman's lips crack in a wide, satisfied smile…

"I like him," she said, her voice filled with genuine fondness and amity. Then, she took a step closer to the still dumfounded guy and planted a light affectionate peck on his cheek. Next, she turned to the smiling Leorio and uttered an order with firm authority, "Be sure to take him home to dinner tonight, Leorio-kun."

Leorio simply nodded before bending a little to allow the shorter woman to smack him loudly on the cheek. After giving another sweet smile to the still stupefied Kurapika, the woman subsequently turned on her heels and walked off.

They both silently watched her go for a couple of minutes before Leorio finally broke the ice with the question that had been bothering him from the very moment he set his eyes on his beloved.

"What are you doing here?"

Kurapika simply sighed and tried to step out of his lover's arm, only to be pulled back into a tighter hug. His lover's stalwart arms coiled around his body and he was instantly flooded by the desire to willingly weld himself closer to the warmth he had long been yearning for. If only he could unravel first the mystery surrounding that woman…

"Who is she?" he asked quietly.

Leorio suddenly pushed him off and held him at arms' length, "Don't tell me you came here to check on me?" He looked straight into his beloved's eyes and wheezed at the amount of anger and bitterness and jealousy he saw in them. "God! Kurapika! Are you doubting your own powers?" He grabbed his beloved's right hand and pressed it hard on his chest. "I have your chain in my heart, remember?"

Kurapika's anger and bitterness were instantly dissolved in the guilt that consequently filled his heart upon seeing the unfaltering sincerity in his lover's eyes. So he didn't notice it after all. His Leo-chan still believed he was indeed under his mercy. "L-Leo-chan…" Kurapika bit his lip and sighed. Should he tell him? "_Anou_…"

"Yes?" Leorio was looking intently into his eyes, eagerly waiting for him to go on.

"_Anou_…" Kurapika darted his eyes to the ground, still discomforted by the genuine innocence on his lover's face. "On the night I used my chain on you, did you notice anything… wrong?

"Wrong?" Leorio repeated pensively. "No… Why?"

Kurapika sighed frustratedly. Though he had been expecting this kind of answer, it annoyed him to actually hear it come out from his lover's lips. It meant he needed to do a lot of explaining…

Yes, he was going to tell him the truth. He felt he needed to. If Leorio really loved him enough, he would understand… And might even appreciate his unconditional honesty…

"I see," was all the older guy said after listening to Kurapika state his case through a river of tears. He slowly wrapped his arms around the trembling guy's body and gently pulled him for another tight embrace. He rubbed his hands comfortingly on the sobbing guy's back and bent down to whisper lovingly to his ears, "It's okay."

Kurapika felt the huge thorn of anxiety get pulled out of his heart. But the tears kept on coming, nevertheless-this time turning from that of repentance to one of relief and happiness.

"Were you jealous of that woman?" Leorio asked cautiously, as though talking to a little kid. The nod he got from the blond head sobbing on his chest instantly generated a set of chuckles in his throat.

Kurapika looked up at him and frowned spitefully. "What's so funny about that?"

"Nothing much," Leorio chortled, pulling the blond head back to his chest. "It's just that…" He stopped chuckling and reduced his voice to a mere, soothing whisper, "I can't believe you're jealous of _my mother_."

Kurapika's eyes widened momentarily with shock, before he closed them tightly with the outset of a furious blush on his cheeks. His mother! Now how stupid was that? How stupid was he—?

"I don't need your chain to bind me to you forever," Leorio went on, affectionately caressing his beloved's soft, blond hair. "My love for you is more than enough to serve the same purpose…"

Needless to say, that sincere statement coming from his lover's own lips was more than enough to allow Kurapika to forget the past and just let himself live by the moment. "I love you, Leo-chan," he whispered to his lover's chest.

Leorio gently pushed him off and looked straight into his eyes, "As I do you..." Then, he bent down and claimed the delicious, supple lips, consequently immersing himself and his beloved in the bliss that both of them had missed in the past month. "And happy birthday…" He whispered to his lips, before plunging deeper into the tasty cave with a comforting warmth and passion that ignited an incomparable rapture in the younger guy's heart.

The faint staccato thumps of bird pellets from a distance didn't sound as scathing to Kurapika as before. In fact, it seemed rather comforting along with the chaotic twits and frantic fluttering of wings generated by the doves in their eagerness to get their rightful share in another generous feast. The cicada leaves rustled joyously at the whirlwind left by the birds which had a while ago stayed perched on the graceful tree's branches. It matched perfectly with the romantic mood… And the sounds blended perfectly with the beat of assurance in Kurapika's joyously throbbing heart.

He never lost his lover after all. And now he was even more than sure he would be his forever…

**-end-**

**Note: **_I wrote this to right something wrong that I did in the other fic. After re-watching the Hunter X Hunter OVAs, I remembered the deal about Kurapika's Judgment Chain and red eyes, and how he would die if he used it on anybody else other than the Geneiryodan_

_Thanks for reading! :)_


	3. Popcorn

**Fandom:** Hunter x Hunter

**Summary:** How much more of those poor kernels should be subjected to merciless pop-tinction before Kurapika finally wakes out of his twisted nightmare?

* * *

**Title: **Popcorn

**Author: **Hana Rui

**Genre: **[delusional]shounen-ai

**Pairing: **Leorio x Kurapika [LeoPika]

* * *

He could hear the crisp popping sound of the helpless little kernels, struggling, yelping, fighting against themselves to break free from the gradually bloating pack inside that small, curious-looking chamber. How many minutes did Leorio say he should watch over this again?

Five?

Ten?

An hour?

The whole day?

Perhaps Leorio had meant to use this as an aberration to keep him in the house. Pouting, sighing, shrugging every single minute as he looked through the gaping kitchen window, torturing his already aching heart with the sight of him talking and laughing with some dumb girl over a bunch of stupid memories from a past they once shared.

They obviously were having the fun of their lives, reminiscing the old times. They were so engrossed in it too that they couldn't be bothered to think of a certain blond guy seething and cursing them from afar. Kurapika would've put upon them every noxious spell in the book, if he knew of one to begin with. Unfortunately, he was a nen-user, not some spell-weaving warlock doting for a secret love...

Here he was standing before this pyretic box-like thing, which he would very much like to turn into a big cauldron to cook that bitch in, watching as some white paper bag got filled with hot air and inflate itself slowly... slowly... The bizarre sight forced him to watch in amazement, forgetting for a while that he was here and they were out there, and that this dazzling technological phenomenon he was witnessing for the first time was shrewdly used to keep him away...

Away from their path.

_Their path... His and... that girl's._

Kurapika's literally flaring eyes snapped back to the couple in a more intensely scathing gaze of hatred and antipathy. What was merely a vaguely implied notion before had by now turned into the soul-devouring, nerve-whacking truth gnawing at his very core... His shattered heart.

The chains that suddenly appeared in his clenched fist chimed with contempt and injurious fury. So this was what Leorio had wanted to do all along. Keep his utterly inquisitive young mind dazed and occupied enough with listening to some stupid corns pop while he, in turn busied his mature self with that whorish girl!

Well, he'd show them what his then overly angered will-which was not at all inexperienced-could do in such a _mature_ situation as this.

Without another thought, the utterly disillusioned Kuruta left the heated seeds to their nonchalant popping and stormed out into the backyard with such reckless force as would've easily pried the backdoor from off its hinges. The poor door held on, though, mutinously swinging back and forth on its spring for about half a dozen times as the furious young blond stalked towards the moaning couple shamelessly making out on the garden swing.

The enraged lad was beside himself with so much fury that he couldn't even _see_ straight. It was merely by his rage-driven impulse that he managed to reach the swing and wordlessly began his confrontation just as the _mature_ pairs of lips halted their ravenous exploration for a gulp of air.

"K-Kurapika!" the utterly stunned Leorio exclaimed as soon as he opened his eyes and met the murderous Kuruta gaze directed upon him.

The girl, this being her first time to see a pair of eyes literally blazing with fury, screamed at the top of her lungs and clung all the more tightly to her gulping lover.

"K-Kurapika, what's wrong?" Leorio's voice trembled with apprehension at the mere thought of what the fiery kid could do. Add to his agony the taut pair of blanched arms mercilessly wringing his neck in a choking grip as Mary squealed all her guts out into his ears.

Not bothering to utter a single word of threat or malediction, the irrevocably miffed Kurapika just reached out one wrathful hand and grabbed the tousled tuft of auburn hair. A startled shriek was all that made it through the heavily shaded feminine lips before one chained fist drove itself without preamble into the girl's wan face, knocking all teeth and terrestrial breath out of her.

Even before the lifeless body fell on the ground with a dull thud, Kurapika's still very much incensed hands had already made a grab for the other half of the indecent show.

"K-Kurapika!" Leorio exclaimed again, as though it was the only word he ever knew.

The crimson-eyed Kuruta pulled the shivering older guy closer by the lapels of his polo and slowly, almost painstakingly stretched his lips into a devilish smile as he drawled in a scary, nasal voice, "Yes, Leorio-kun?"

Still rather awed by the sudden change in his friend's usually calm demeanor, Leorio's attempted retort first ended in a snort, before it finally formed into the fearful accusation that came rushing through his mouth before he could even consider its horrid consequences. "Y-YOU KILLED HER!"

Kurapika let out a throaty chuckle as he bent down and pressed his forehead against the paling guy's own.

"A-Are you gonna kill me, too?" Leorio asked at a notion, his eyes widening in alarm.

The younger guy's smiling eyes glinted with subtle mischief. "Would you like me to?"

"Yes..." Leorio replied in a quiet, seemingly hypnotized voice as he stared into the fathomless abyss of those beautiful cat-shaped eyes which had by now returned to their natural greenish hue. Then, abruptly realizing what he had just said, the utterly startled guy roughly shook his head and cried, "I mean no!"

"Make up your mind, idiot!" Kurapika snarled into the blanching face, tightening his hold on the sweaty shirt as though to stop his hands from clobbering that idiotic head.

Leorio winced at the warmth and proximity of the fresh smelling breath wafting against his face. Before he knew it-and despite the dread welling up within him-the fine, submissive lad had subsequently closed his eyes and was soon basking in the glorious feel of the divine yet menacing life-form hovering over him.

"Would you... like me to kill you... Leorio-kun?" Kurapika asked softly, brushing his hungry lips against the quivering adult's smooth cheek.

"Yes," came the whispered reply as the faintest dab of a blush tinted Leorio's cheeks. "Kiss me, _koibito_."

And not one to disappoint a lover, Kurapika was at it as fast as a hungry butterfly upon the last juicy flower in the backyard. It didn't matter that the half-witted, subtly perverted Leorio had heard him wrong. This was what he had intended to do in the first place, anyway.

The passion-driven blond ravenously partook of the godly nectar freely granted him by his eagerly responding prey. Soon thereafter, both irrevocably lustful individuals were inexorably plunged deeper in the overwhelming whirlpool of libidous desire and fleshy ministrations. This was even while the lifeless body of the girl Kurapika killed lay in an apathetic, fly-infested heap on the ground just beside them.

Their noses had by then stoically shut themselves up against the miasmic smell mixing with the afternoon breeze. They were lost in a world where everything about them answered relentlessly and solely to their bodies' carnal desires...

Kurapika was now lying subserviently on the swing seat, Leorio's tongue and very able hands expertly stimulating all sentient nerve endings in his body. All possible obstructions to their heated coupling had earlier been discarded in a careless heap of rumpled fabric piled on top of the stolid cadaver, whose discomfiting proximity either of them had yet to remember.

By this time the couple was so wrapped up in the magic of the moment that they could hardly think about what they were doing. They kissed relentlessly, moaned shamelessly and wiggled thoughtlessly to the ancient rhythm of life. They were just answering to their raging sex drives in a goddamn humane way, after all. Who would have the mind to bother what sex was the other?

And who would waste a second thinking about the draffy presence of a human carcass on the ground, buried underneath their own clothes? If anything, the now very dead Mary served as a mere aphrodisiac to the passionate union transpiring in such a gruesome closeness to her neglected existence.

Everything went well within the limits of routine, brutish sex until two pale, slender arms indiscreetly wrapped themselves around the tanned, brawny body, perhaps merely intending to pull his partner closer. But they might've squeezed too hard that something inside the startled Leorio snapped and his face was instantly marred with a grimace of extreme pain.

"Ku... Kurapika! My... bones! Ack!"

Unfortunately for the older guy, Kurapika seemed to have lost it completely. The deranged blond, eyes flashing in their lovely crimson hue, was even sneering diabolically as he kept on squashing the pathetically grunting Leorio against himself.

Squashing his bones... Squashed them until they popped.

Bones... Popping.

Popping Bones.

Popping... Popping...

POP... POP...

"KURAPIKA! THE POPCORN!"

Kurapika's eyes snapped open just in time to see Leorio's noble rescue of the then extremely overcooked popcorn. The grunting guy fished the deflated bag from the foggy microwave and hurled it all into the gaping trash can's grace.

"Moron! What were you doing?" Leorio's virile voice thundered with vexation as he frantically opened cupboards after cupboards in search of a new bag of popcorn.

Kurapika kept on staring blankly at his griping friend. _I was having great sex with you in my dreams..._ was the impudent response that kept chugging through his mind, but which he could not voice out for fear of scaring the other guy away.

Or perhaps he might even incite the already seething older guy to as much anger as would compel those tanned, brawny arms to wrap around his pale, slender body and crash his bones to pop-tinction-just as he did to him in his frenzic dream.

_Actually, wouldn't it be _nice_ if that should happen? _As this thought came slithering through Kurapika's depraved mind, the same diabolical sneer from his dream wantonly assaulted his lips. Fortunately for the both of them, the faintly blushing blond was of enough sanity by now to stop his exterior mien from revealing his inner... _censored_ thoughts.

"That was the last bag," the younger guy was finally able to say much to Leorio's annoyance. "If you like... we can go pop some bones instead..."

"_N-Nani_?"

Equally astounded by his own unwarranted statement as the guy who was presently giving him a subtly terrified look, Kurapika forced an innocent smile on his lips and quickly asked, "By the way, where's Mary?"

"Mary who?" The older guy asked incredulously, now squinting his cautious eyes at him.

"Y'know Mary?" Kurapika frowned at the look of pure confusion smeared on the other guy's face. If this freak was playing him out for a fool, he definitely wasn't buying it.

And as though sensing his quiet warning, Leorio's face lit up with sudden realization. "Oh, Mary!" he exclaimed, triumphantly snapping his fingers in the air. "Didn't you just kill her?"

Kurapika's eyes widened in shock. Even more so when he glanced at the gaping window and caught sight of a rotting feminine corpse by the swing, being feasted on by dozens of humongous flies.

He could hardly believe that what he thought was a mere dream was actually the horrifying reality!

"No," he muttered under his breath, greatly disgruntled and terrified by the repulsive sight, yet unable to deviate his already blurring vision from it.

"You killed her!" came Leorio's gruff accusation. Kurapika turned his eyes to his friend and saw him pointing an angry finger at him as he screamed, "YOU KILLED HER!"

"No." Kurapika took a step back, and another, and another, until his foot slipped into an abysmal chasm that sent him flailing into nothingness. Lower and lower he went in a seemingly endless pit of doom. He screamed and screamed but no one seemed to take notice. Until finally, his young, fragile body hit ground with the loudest THUD!

Popping his bones out of their sockets, out of himself.

Bones... Popping.

Popping Bones.

Popping... Popping...

POP... POP...

"KURAPIKA! THE POPCORN!"

Kurapika's senses came rushing in just in time to hear the deafening crash of the glass bowl on concrete, creating a mixed heap of broken crystals and popped kernels on the floor.

"Good thing the movie's over," Leorio remarked with a sigh as he tightened his arms around his beloved who sat as still as a doll with the gravest facial expression possible, eyes unwaveringly glued on the TV screen. "Are you all right?" he couldn't help but ask. His _koi_ had been sick for the longest time and wasn't even showing any signs of recovering in the near future.

Kurapika, on the other hand, hardly heard what his lover said. Had he just woken out of a frenzic dream, yet again? Or had he not been awake at all?

_Am I really awake right now?_

The perplexed blond kid could hardly tell which was dream and which was reality anymore. What the hell was happening to him?

"Man, for someone of your _reputation_, it's hard to believe you've been down with a fever for three days!" Leorio said in mock disbelief, turning the television off with the remote control. "Three long days, Kura-chan! Are you really this sensitive to the altering weather?"

Things were beginning to make sense to him now. He had been _nurturing_ an ascending body temperature ever since he came to live with Leorio in this strange place. He had never known that the weather could actually be so crazy as to undergo several alterations in a single day... In a single locality...

One day, it would be raining, cloaking the whole place with a chill that could only be warded off his system by Leorio's thickest coat and a seat before his hearth. The next, it would be so sunny that a single ray of Phoebus's fireball could easily scorch the bone.

He had been delirious for three days. For three long days he had been having series after frenzic series of delusional mental images in his sleep. And it was always about Leorio having an affair with somebody else. A famous actress, a fellow doctor, an old friend... Even with a three-breasted alien, for petessake! No need to have a shrink tell him he was definitely losing it. Losing it terribly. Horribly...

He felt his lover's arm tighten around him once again. A loving gesture that was immediately followed by a valiant kiss upon his dry, flaking lips.

He was awfully sick and yet, Leorio had never ceased giving him this kind of warmth.

He was contagiously ill and yet, Leorio had never left his side. It had always been like this—the two of them sitting in front of the television while watching a movie; he falling asleep and having those dumb dreams; and Leorio cuddling him like this... Kissing him like this... Not having the heart to scold him every time he happened to have moved impulsively, thus sending another one of his _koi_'s beloved glass bowls shattering to the ground…

And not bothering to clean up the mess he had made until he was appropriately _punished._ With Leorio tiring him this much, it wasn't much of a wonder why he couldn't regain enough strength to pull him through this stupid fever.

He wasn't complaining, of course. In fact, he would choose to fall sick any day of the week just to feel this close to his lover.

How could he dream of this guy betraying him? How could his subconscious mind doubt such a fine, gentle, loving soul?

Kurapika's eyes snapped open when Leorio suddenly pulled away from the kiss. "_Doushite_?" he whispered in his weak and strained voice.

"I almost forgot to tell you," Leorio began, putting on his lips an almost juvenile smile of excitement. "An old friend of mine is coming over next week. Y'know, Mary?"

Kurapika's heart skipped disapprovingly as images of his recent dream came drifting into his mind. "M-Mary... who?"

"Mary," Leorio replied with an enthusiasm that both sickened and irritated the younger guy. "The girl I've been telling you about!"

Oh, the guy had been telling him about that girl, all right! Telling him more than he should know. He sure didn't wanna hear how this Mary was Leorio's first kiss, or how she became his first girlfriend at the fresh young age of seven! Now he knew why he had been having those dreams. His subconscious mind was more anguished than doubtful.

So this was the person who had swayed Leorio's heart first.

So he was finally gonna meet her in a week's time!

So his dreams where not without basis after all...

"Why are you giving me that look?" Leorio frowned questioningly at him. He could hardly tell what expression was currently pasted on his face. He had been numb and paralyzed the very moment he heard about Mary coming over and was even more so when he remembered his dream. "Your eyes are turning red, _Koi_. You're not thinking of killing me, are you?" The older guy even managed a mock look of alarm, not knowing the gravity of his statement.

"Mary... Why... I don't want to... She... Kiss... Kill," Kurapika's words trembled in their broken cadence.

"_Nani_? Kurapika, are you all right?" the extremely worried Leorio tried to shake some sense into his seemingly hallucinating beloved.

"Bones... Pop... Pop..."

"Popcorn? Would you like some more popcorn? But that was the last bag, Koi."

Kurapika stopped talking-or forcing himself to anyway-and kept still long enough to watch the look of deep concern and apprehension on the other guy's face. One sappy thought leapt into his mind, _He loves me..._ Which was closely followed by another,_ He really does..._ And another, _He really, really does..._

Oh hell, he did still have one whole week to get well. Surely by the time the enemy intruded his territory, he would be ready to face her head on.

Right now, he would have to content himself in savoring this moment he had with his lover.

Without another word-nor any clear Kuruta thought, for that matter—Kurapika pounced on Leorio, bearing his startled lover flat on the couch, and abruptly plunging his voracious tongue into his mouth before the older guy could make any stupid complaints.

Next week, he would have to deal with that dumb _whatever-her-name-was_ girl. Tonight, however, was exclusively for dealing with more important matters at hand.

And so the still very sick, very delusional, yet very passionate Kurapika took much pleasure in _breaking his koi's bones _that night.

Not literally, of course-if you know what I mean...

**-end-**

_Thanks for reading! :)_


	4. Special Delivery

**Fandom:** Hunter x Hunter

**Summary:** The heartbeat doesn't lie, Leorio-kun. Senritsu visits Leorio with a confession held in a box of coins.

* * *

**Title: **Special Delivery

**Author: **Hana Rui

**Genre: **shounen-ai, sap

**Pairing: **Leorio x Kurapika [LeoPika]

* * *

Leorio looked incredulously at the package held fixedly under his nose. Cradled between two tiny hands appended to outstretched arms of stubby length, it looked ridiculously too fine and too strange to belong to this world.

If he hadn't known any better, he would've easily taken the lady hunter for a conniving elf bearing gifts to lure him to the Underworld.

"He told me to give you this," Senritsu stated, shoving the box closer to his face.

He shifted his weight from one bent leg to the other then asked as he finally took the _furoshiki_-wrapped box in his own hands, "W-What is it?" He made a show of shaking it close to his ears and was doubly flustered at the dull clattering sound that came from inside. _Bombs…?_

It was a fairly stupid thought, but knowing that guy…

"It is a gift," the low-set woman replied, a knowing smile playing on her lips. "He will be very upset if you don't take it."

"Huh?" He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that. It wasn't really like the younger guy to give him anything. Much less a gift this heavy and so intricately wrapped it was to give to a god. And the kid would be upset if he did not take it? What was this guy playing on anyway? "Where is he?" he asked, almost demanded as he rose to his feet.

Senritsu slowly shook her head. "He doesn't wanna give you any more trouble," she said, "But wishes to send his regards to you on your humble profession."

He looked down at the grinning emissary as though she was a talking mound of earth. His lips moved with some compulsive protest, but shut almost as quickly when prudence came kicking in.

"Of course, the gift is enough to let you know that he will be more than willing to help you in anyway he can," she found it necessary to add, seeing perhaps the doubtful look on his face. "And he has even commissioned Gon and Killua, as well, to chip in a few gils once in a while."

The doubtful look deepened as the truth got dawned on him. "Is this…? Are these…?" He shook the box again to confirm. _Coins…?_

Senritsu nodded while giggling softly. "He's always really been stingy, that lad. Would always rather settle for the cheapest, stalest food just to have something to put in there at the end of the day."

"He did that?" Leorio couldn't believe his ears, but a small smile of amusement was beginning to form on his lips. Was this the same Kurapika who had always been the first to go out of his way to sample the rarest delicacies in all the rarest locations? If he hadn't known any better, he would've thought the younger guy was aiming to be a Gourmet Hunter all along.

However, what he found more intriguing than that was how the gift had arrived at such a conveniently appropriate time.

For weeks, Leorio had been wondering about how he could improve his slowly dwindling funds to keep supporting his sworn cause.

As it was, it did not take him long to realize that having the Hunter License had brought more pain than gain for him. It was just that wherever he went and showed off the cursed thing for a much needed discount, he was hounded almost immediately by psychos wanting to grab it from him the moment he let down his guard. Some had been aggressive, too, and he had more than once found himself in a situation where he thought he was gonna die, but thankfully managed to pull through by some divine miracle.

How then could he become a doctor and save lives if he had freaks willing to kill in cold blood tirelessly stalking him to the very ends of his sanity?

He thought it over a thousand times and took almost half a year to finally decide it was the best thing to do. He sold his license off and used the money he got from it to heal people for free just as he had always dreamt of doing.

But the money was slowly draining, what with the multitude of people showing up on his doorstep everyday, needing this and that medicine, this and that operation, this and that referrals that he, too, would readily pay for. So it was little wonder his financial support could only hold out for so long.

He could always just turn to his nen to take care of some petty cases, but would not always take that risk for fear of attracting unnecessary attention to himself and his patients. He would never do anything to put their lives on the chopping board. He feared for them more than for himself.

And it did not help much that his friends were always engaged in one adventurous mission after the other, thus making them too busy and too distant to come and save his ass if worse would come to worst.

How, though, did the kid know of his predicament?

"I've always really wondered why." Senritsu's delight was obviously augmented as she went on, cutting through his thoughts. "Now, seeing you hold the box with that smile on your face… it really does explain a lot, doesn't it?"

"Huh?" Putting back the doubtful frown did not do well in wiping off the crimson warmth that crept up on his face.

Thankfully, Senritsu was demure enough not to tease him about it any longer than she had already done. "I think I'll get going." She was just about to turn around and leave when the younger man finally rediscovered his voice and called out, almost croaking.

"Wait!"

"Yes, Leorio-kun?" If it were possible to be patronizing and teasing at the same time, the musical hunter sure was doing it quite convincingly.

"Um…Well…" On the other hand, struggling for the right words to say was not an activity the hunter-cum-medical-man fairly enjoyed. He sighed and rubbed his nape, only to manage a faltering smile in the end.

"I think I know what you want to say," Senritsu mercifully said to save him the trouble. "I'll give him the message."

Man could only open his mouth and look dumbly at the woman.

In response to the unspoken question, Senritsu pressed her palm gently to her chest and stated in that soft voice of hers that seemed to rival the calmest wind, "The heartbeat doesn't lie, Leorio-kun." She smiled one last time, bowed her head slightly in respect and went on her way.

It took Leorio a few moments to gather back his senses, pay a smile to the back of the retreating courier—who always seemed to know more about himself than he did—before fiddling with the package.

And it was while he was slowly unwrapping the box that a tiny piece of paper sailed out and landed gracefully on the doorstep of his humble clinic.

Bending over to pick the note from the ground, he grinned at the sight of that familiar cursive handwriting sprawled proudly on the glossy surface:

_Work hard, Doctor!_

He picked the paper up and next saw the treat that took his heart soaring right through the very peak of bliss.

For written in tiny letters, at the bottom of the parchment above the loveliest name in the world, were the words close enough to the ones he had long been dying to hear.

_always watching over you,_

_Kurapika_

He held the box close to his chest and uttered his response to the passing night breeze, knowing in his heart that his precious blond friend was just around the corner.

Hiding.

Pining.

Watching over his shoulders like an angel. Like a god.

Loving him from a distance. For now.

"Thank you."

He thought he heard the gentle sound of chains jingling from afar and caught a flash of blond hair disappearing behind the proudest sakura tree in his garden.

He smiled, knowing full well there was absolutely nothing that could scare him now.

**-end-**

**Note:** _Written for **100themes** livejournal: Theme #001 Savings Box_

_Thanks for reading! :)_


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